The momentum of equity crowdfunding in NZ

Alternative funding platforms are among the largest in New Zealand across the Asia Pacific region (excluding China).

A survey of geographical distribution of alternative finance platforms in Asia-Pacific, published in the Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report this year, reported that although New Zealand is among the smallest countries in terms of population, they have the third highest volume of total funding, with a total national market volume of $268m in 2017 from 10 platforms.

The New Zealand government has been an early mover in enabling regulation for equity-based alternative finance activities which perhaps helps to explain this country's relative performance within the region.

How equity crowdfunding it works:

Platforms like Equitise allow high growth and innovative companies to partner with investors who believe in them. Equitise make investing in companies accessible, efficient and safe for all investors. It's the modern way to raise capital.

Equitise are creating an intuitive and automated investment ecosystem, which is highly social and inclusive for all investor types, from family offices, to VC’s, high net worth angels and less experienced retail investors.

Equity crowdfunding is making investing in private companies accessible, efficient and relevant to a wider audience.

Why it is attractive to investors?

As crowdfunding becomes more mainstream, investors are looking for investment opportunities that translate into positive social or economic change, investing in start-ups has the potential to meet both investment objectives: maximising returns and social/economic impact.

The appeal for a novice investor is that though access to information online, much can be learned by actively engaging. It is easy to participate, with mobile platforms making it easy to view, download and invest in alternative investments.

There is not entry cost to crowd funded investment through Equitise, other than the initial investment. Crowd funded investment is democratic, available to large and small investors with minimum investment start as low as $60 up to $5,000.

All investments offer a balance between risk and potential returns; crowd funding opportunities offer another way to diversify your portfolio.

There are similarities between equity crowd funding and traditional venture capital investments; equity crowdfunding platforms essentially open up the early stage investment market so parallels in expected returns can be drawn from this.